Commensal rodents are rodents that want to “share” your house with you. They can fit into openings as tiny as a fourth of an inch. The three most common household rodents in the United States are the Norway rat, the roof rat, and the house mouse. The first step to rodent control is determining what kind of rodent you have. If you see the rodent, you can determine the type by its size. The smallest of them are the house mice, second are the roof rats, and the biggest are the Norway rats.
The house mouse and the roof rat are easily mixed up, so the next step to identify them is by their droppings, size of the tail, and eating habits. Here is a chart that clearly shows the differences between all three. Once you’ve identified your rodent, you have to pick the best rodent control strategy to rid them from your home.
Rodents are most active at night, so chances are you won’t see them during the day. The most successful rodent control strategies have to do with both trapping and baiting. If you suspect that your rodent population is large, you have to bait them to get the population down and then trap the remaining.
Baiting
When setting out baits, try not to interrupt their habitat, so they stay in that area and eat the poison. After setting out baits, continue with food source removal and sanitation procedures to keep more rodents from entering your home. Eliminating the rodents’ food source is crucial when using bait because regardless of the quality of the bait the rodents will always choose something else. The bait should knock down your rodent population very quickly. After bait, the next step is traps.
Trapping
When using traps, it is crucial have the type of rodent identified. The size of the trap is based on the size of the rodent. One of the most common mistakes when setting out traps is not setting out enough. It is better to set out too many than not enough. With your rodent population dwindling from the bait, trapping the rodents shouldn’t be too hard of a task. Mice traps should be placed 1-2 feet apart, and rat traps 10-15 feet apart. After setting the traps, check them each day to see if any rodents have been captured.
If these rodent control strategies aren’t effective, call Dustin Pest Control, a Fresno pest control company, to help with your rodent problem.